The glowing, neon green lamp you see above is the invention of French biochemist Pierre Calleja, who had the crazy idea of using algae to power otherworldly, tube-shaped streetlamps that double as homes for this growing gloop. In a talk at TEDxLausanneChange, he explains the process behind the invention.

You may remember photosynthesis from biology class — if not, Wikipedia will remind you: “Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy, normally from the sun, into chemical energy that can be used to fuel the organisms’ activities.” But can photosynthesis help us light our sidewalks and roadways? Calleja thinks so.

He and his team at FermentAlg developed this lamp to double as a habitat for microalgae, which absorb solar energy and consume carbon dioxide. These lamps are designed to store the energy made from this process, so that when placed in unlit places, they can continue to shine.

These beautiful lights are not only practical, but their symbiotic technology could help in the fight against rising carbon emissions and climate change.

Oh, the places you’ll go with TEDx. This week, we’ve been exploring everything beyond the urban jungle. We followed an explorer to the dark caverns of underground caves, an astronaut to outer space, a time lapse photographer to fields and mountain ranges, and a group of TEDx’ers to the top of snowy Mount Everest. This […]

The average person takes about 150 million steps in a lifetime. What if we could turn all that movement into energy? Two innovators are working on it — including a TED@London speaker. While one has built a system to capture the energy of foot traffic, the other is harnessing the power of smooth dance moves. […]

Comments (20)

expithis1971commented on Jul 20 2014

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johnvanhorn24commented on Mar 12 2014

It is weird to know about the street lamp powered by algae through photosynthesis process but I think its a great invention for saving electricity or other power source… :D

BexFeltzcommented on Nov 1 2013

would be wondering if you help me if you know about algae lamps please give me detail about it and answer my questions This is my questions?
how the algae will charge the battery in day?(process)
how the algae will take his energy from the battery in night?(process)
is algae able to fill the battery?
is the algae’s glow as the lamp we use?
how long the lamp can stay without repairing?
how the algae will stay in life in a cold or hot place? I think it needs a particular temperature
how can we connect the 30 nanometre-wide gold electrodes to each cell of liquid algae ?

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Sarassistcommented on Oct 3 2013

Reblogged this on Sarassist and commented:
Greener street lights anyone?

utexasesicommented on Oct 2 2013

Reblogged this on Environmental Science Institute and commented:
“Algae Power” should be the next superhero slogan for humanity because it is green, clean, and now with a luminescent sheen! Pierre Calleja and his team at FermentAlg have created clever streetlamps powered by algae. But this is merely the beginning for these miracle micro-organisms, which can be used to create anything from fertilizer, feed-stock, to energetic bio-fuels. Here at The University of Texas at Austin, the Center for Electromechanics conducts a multidisciplinary research program to extract bio-oils from algae to produce fuel and other high-value algae products.